You need to get some energy at school to finish an essay or during exams? You have to get done some projects quickly at work? You’re looking for help to naturally boost your intellectual performances? Then, read on to find out how to make that possible.

Well, it’s now possible to increase your intellectual abilities on short term thanks to some stimulating substances that will act right away on your body and brain.

Your brain only represents 2% of your total body weight but is one of the most needy organs. It requires some specific and important energy needs, during both day and night. Indeed, a healthy brain is really greedy: it consumes 20% of the calories you eat, 20% of the oxygen you breathe and 5g of glucose every hour!

In order to perform at its best, it demands vitamins, minerals, trace elements, amino acids, and essential fatty acids. Except for breast milk, you won’t find any food that contains all of these substances at once, all reunited.

That’s why a healthy and diversified diet is really important: it will provide your body and brain with all of these substances plus with regular supplies of energy. It will help you to increase your performances, fight against intellectual tiredness, and keep you concentrated and focus.

Natural food supplements used to boost brain performances mainly are stimulating and adaptogenic (help us to fight against stress) substances and vitamins.

So let’s break it all down and get started!

#1- Stimulating Caffeine

Many plants naturally contain a high concentration of caffeine such as coffee, tea, cocoa, cola, yerba maté, and guarana. It’s been used for centuries by different civilizations to fight against tiredness and boost intellectual performances.

How to Consume Caffeine?

Depending on countries, it’s recommended to get a maximum daily consumption of caffeine between 200mg and 400mg.

Many drinks and foods contain caffeine. Of course, coffee has the highest concentration of caffeine but you’ll find also some in tea, energy drinks or even dark chocolate. For example, you’ll find below the average amount of caffeine in different drinks:

#2- Magic Ginseng

Ginseng has a long history of use in traditional medicine, mainly in Asia and Canada. It’s usually used to strengthen the body, particularly for the elderly, women who just gave birth, and recovering persons.

Nowadays, vitamin B1 is mainly used against tiredness(especially during sports), and to boost your brain. Indeed, many studies proved that vitamin B is highly effective on numerous aspect on the brain function, including energy production and improving memory.

How to Consume Vitamin B1?

Vitamin B1 is usually consumed by capsules. It’s recommended to get a daily dose of vitamin B1 of 1.3mg for men and 1.2mg for women.

You’ll find vitamin B1 in many food. For example, you’ll find below the average amount of vitamin B1 (for 100mg):

Macadamia nuts: 1.9mg of vitamin B1 for 100g

Soya beans: 1.3mg of vitamin B1 for 100g

Brown rice: 0.3 mg of vitamin B1 for 100g

Egg: 0.07mg of vitamin B1 for 100g

What Are the Potential Risks to Consume These Substances?

There is no risk for health if you consume any of these substances with the daily recommended dose:

Caffeine: it’s recommended to get a maximum daily consumption between 200mg and 400mg depending on countries

Ginseng: it’s recommended to eat a daily dose between 0,5g to 2g of dried roots

Vitamin B1: it’s recommended to get a daily dose of 1.3mg for men and 1.2mg for women

However, researches show that excess consumption of caffeine leads to many unwanted effects such as: nervousness, anxiety or insomnia. Also, you should be really careful consuming too much caffeine could be addictive. Ginseng and other adaptogenic plants have the same effect when it’s consume in high volume.

4 Tips & Habits to Boost Your Intellectual Performances

In addition to these 3 natural supplements that will instantly boost your intellectual performances, you can also start acting in your everyday life by implementing these 4 below advices:

#1- Never, Ever Skip Breakfast

Your mum already told you this one and she was right! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It should be healthy and complete. Indeed, a perfect breakfast should provide your body with 1/4 of the daily energy intake. This way, it will improve your physical and intellectual performances. If you’re one of the person who usually skip breakfast, note that you will be less focus and get harder time to think.A healthy breakfast is composed of cereal-based product, a dairy product and a fruit.

#2- Eat Your Meals at Regular Hours

It’s important to get your breakfast, lunch and diner at regular time everyday. If you sometimes feel tired and less focus at the end of the morning or afternoon, it’s because there is low carbs in your blood. Your brain won’t function at his maximal capacity and you will get a harder time to focus on your work. In this case, don’t hesitate to get a healthy snack or a fruit to boost your brain!

#3- Get Enough Sleep

Sleep is an essential function in the human organism. When your body sleeps, your brain is actually not resting. It will fix all the informations that you got in the day in your memory. A sufficient and regular sleep is vital for intellectual performances to perform at the best during the day, for children and adults.

#4- Eat Some Carbs

Carbs, or carbohydrates, brings to your body the required energy in order for your brain to perform. Basically, carbs make your brain powerful! In order to avoid tiredness, you need to eat enough carbs such as cereals and starch (always choose wholemeal!). It takes longer time to the body to get absorbed. This way, they will keep your energy level up for several hours. Note that carbs should at least be half of your daily food intake.

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